


Intern(al) Affairs

by officerstilinskihale



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: M/M, but yes, enjoy?, interns au, no explicit sex, not one of which is accurate probably, there's a law firm?, very vague mentions of being an intern at a law firm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-08
Updated: 2014-07-08
Packaged: 2018-02-07 20:47:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1913292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/officerstilinskihale/pseuds/officerstilinskihale
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Wait, you’re an intern?” he blurted out, wincing when the guy turned to him, his eyebrows raised. “Sorry, I just thought you were my new <em>boss</em> or something.”</p><p>He laughed a bit hysterically, relieved.</p><p>“No, just an intern,” the guy shook his head, before sticking his hand out with a small smile. “Derek Hale.”</p><p>or, as i like to call it “<em>that fucking intern fic that made me want to shoot myself like sixteen times. yeah. that one</em>”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Intern(al) Affairs

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lonewolfed (nashirah)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nashirah/gifts).



> happy birthday, my love. i hope you enjoy it.
> 
> beta'd by the lovely [ellen](http://captainscruffywolf.tumblr.com/), without whom i would be drowned underneath a sea of stray commas and tragedy. also so many thanks to the lovely [char](http://peterhale.tumblr.com/), who is not only as supportive as she is beautiful, but also poked me in the right direction when it came to the ending. this would be nothing if you hadn't helped me so thanks :)
> 
> this fic has been such a long time coming and it is _done_ , hopefully it gives me the push i need to start writing a shit ton of stuff before school starts! enjoy!

Stiles fucked up. He fucked up and he knew it. ****

It was only his first day at Martin & Lahey, and he’d already pissed off the hottest, most intimidating human being in the whole world. The guy was built like a fucking Greek god, complete with the strong jawline, broad shoulders, seafoam green eyes, and a fantastic ass. Not that Stiles had been looking. In fact, he’d been hiding in the bathroom for what seemed like what seemed like hours, because he wasn’t actually sure if he was going to cry or cream his pants, both of which would probably be inappropriate.

Okay, the crying would’ve been mildly acceptable, because he was 99% sure he just spilt hot coffee all over his new boss, and he was probably going to die. Painfully.

Or at least get fired before he even had a chance to start.

He took a deep breath to steel his nerves and pushed the door open, only to run into his boss, who looked absolutely murderous.

He whimpered.

“You,” the guy hissed, and Stiles took a cautious step backward into the bathroom as the guy shut the door behind him.

“Me?” he laughed awkwardly. “I, uh, hi. I’m Stiles, and I’m really, _really_ sorry about earlier.”

“You’re lucky I brought a spare shirt,” the guy said with a shake of his head, turning towards the mirror and removing the same lanyard Stiles had from his neck. “Otherwise I would’ve killed you.”

“Right, that’s great,” Stiles replied absently, squinting at the ID until he managed to read it, and his eyes widened in surprise. “Wait, you’re an intern?” he blurted out, wincing when the guy turned to him, his eyebrows raised. “Sorry, I just thought you were my new _boss_ or something.”

He laughed a bit hysterically, relieved.

“No, just an intern,” the guy shook his head, before sticking his hand out with a small smile. “Derek Hale.”

Stiles flushed when Derek’s eyes slid down his body before sliding back up to meet his eyes. “Stiles Stilinski,” he got out, swallowing when the corner of Derek’s mouth quirked up as he took Stiles’ hand and gave it a firm shake. “You from around here?”

“New York City, born and raised,” Derek said proudly, holding Stiles’ hand a moment too long, and Stiles could feel himself blush. “Yourself?”

“I moved here about four years ago from California for college, and I’ve been here ever since,” he shrugged, and the smile that crossed Derek’s face made Stiles a little weak in the knees.

“Do you wanna sit with me out there?” Derek asked earnestly, before grimacing. “Oh god, war flashbacks to middle school, sorry.”

Surprised, Stiles burst out in genuine laughter, not missing the way Derek’s bunny teeth bit slightly into his bottom lip when he looked away.

“No, it’s fine, I’d love to,” he grinned back at Derek, who nodded and gestured to his shirt.

“Let me just get finished up here.”

Stiles nearly squeaked when Derek pulled his shirt off without any preamble because holy shit, that body was kind of unreal. “That, uh, that sounds good,” he mumbled, his face burning when he noticed Derek smirking at him.

Smooth, Stiles.

He was pretty sure Derek made that experience a lot longer than necessary, slipping the buttons through their buttonholes slowly, and Stiles felt like his nerves were on edge, buzzing just underneath his skin. He was so focused on not staring at the way Derek’s back muscles rippled when he slid the shirt off, or the map of veins on his biceps (okay, so he was staring a little, sue him) that he startled when Derek put a hand on his arm.

“Ready to head out?” he asked quietly. Stiles nodded, steadfastly ignoring the shit-eating grin plastered across Derek’s face.

As they walked through the maze of offices towards the auditorium they were supposed to be meeting in, Stiles found himself getting excited for the next two months. If all went well, he might not only get a new job, but a hot boyfriend in tow along with it.

He cut a glance towards Derek, and he couldn’t help the small smile that twitched at the corners of his mouth when he saw Derek was already looking back at him.

+++

“Now, I know this all sounds great,” their actual boss was saying to the room at large, everyone’s eyes wide with the prospect of a 6-figure paying job just after graduation. “However, we are only offering one job, so the competition will be pretty intense.”

Stiles felt his stomach bottom out, and his gut-punched expression was almost a mirror reaction to the rest of the thirty interns listening to her.

“That might seem like a depressing thought right now, but really, all it’ll do is inspire you to work harder to get the job, which we’ll appreciate. Not to mention, having an internship at Martin & Lahey will still be enormously helpful if you were to apply elsewhere, so essentially you’re still getting something out of this, even though it might not be a job,” Ms. Martin said with a cursory glance around the room. “We’ll take a quick break now, refreshments are in the next room, and in about 15 minutes there will be someone in here to talk about your responsibilities and what we expect from you all. I hope you guys have a great time here, and good luck,” she concluded, before stepping down from the podium.

His eyes round and probably horror-filled, he turned to Derek, who, to his surprise, had a firm look of determination on his face.

“So, uh, about this thing,” Stiles started, only to stop mid-sentence when Derek held up his hand.

“Look, you’re cute and everything, but if I’m going to get this job, and I will, I can’t afford any distractions, so I’ll take you out for a coffee or something afterwards, yeah?”

Stiles’ jaw dropped, because, wow, that was rude.

“How do you know I won’t be getting the job?” he snapped back, arms crossed over his chest, immediately affronted when Derek had the nerve to start laughing.

“That’s adorable, really,” Derek said, smirking. “I’m going to go grab some punch, I guess I’ll see you around, Stiles.”

What a dick.

Stiles made an indignant noise to himself as he watched Derek walking away because the guy might’ve been a major douche, but Stiles wasn’t a complete idiot.

Two hours into the next seminar, Stiles was miserable and bored and _alone_. They were currently halfway through the information booklets and all Stiles could think of was that he was bored. Sure, the company’s history was interesting, single-handedly built up from the ground by Ms. Martin, before evolving into what was now New York’s top law firm.

Despite the constant reminders Stiles had been giving himself not to look over at Derek sitting two rows and a couple seats over, he felt his eyes drawn there yet again and was a little gratified to see him stifling a yawn and shifting in his seat.

Of course the first attractive person to be interested in him would turn out to be a massive douche, that was just Stiles’ luck.

“Excuse me? You in the beanie?” the speaker, Danny something or other, raised his eyebrow and Stiles coughed for a moment, flushing when he saw Derek smirk at him from the corner of his eye.

“Sorry,” he muttered, cheeks burning as he sank lower into his seat.

The corner of Danny’s mouth twitched upwards. “You should be.”

He didn’t look over to watch Derek wink at him or anything.

“As I was saying,” Danny said meaningfully, eyeing Stiles. “I’m going to be separating you lot into three groups, and you’ll all be spending a few weeks each in the different departments we have here. We’ll want to see your capabilities in all aspects of the business. Group A will be with me, B with Jackson over there, and Group C will be with over with Erica,” he gestured to the tall blonde in a pencil skirt standing a few paces away with a hand over her hip.

There was a brief pause before the room bustled to life, interns getting up off their chairs and walking to the front of the room.

As Stiles headed up to the front of the room, he could hear the excited babble of interns who’ve made friends, their names appear on the screen at the front of the room, unable to place his own among the others. He had only just removed his glasses to clean them when he heard his name being painfully butchered by the terrifying blonde. He turned towards where she was and barely held back his grimace when he saw Derek nodding quietly to something Erica was saying.

His motherfucking luck.

“Stilinski?” Erica looked up at him when he lifted a hand. “I’m about 99% sure I mangled your first name, I apologize.”

Startled, he let out a sharp burst of laughter, because that wasn’t what he had been expecting at all. “It’s fine,” he grinned up at her with a dismissive wave. “Call me Stiles.”

“Stiles,” she rolled the word on her tongue before beaming at him. “I like it.”

Feeling pretty smug, he folded himself down onto one of the armchairs as Erica rounded up the rest of their group, hearing their names at the back of his mind.

“Okay, so, here are your schedules for the next week,” Erica clapped her hands together to get their attention, handing out portfolios with their names on them. “You guys will be working in pairs, helping the junior associates with their cases. This means you'll probably be spending a lot of time in the archives, putting your research skills to good use, if you have any." The corners of her mouth twitched when she saw Stiles hide a smile behind his hand, and she winked at him.

Stiles liked Erica.

“Carter, Hunt, you’ll be helping Greg in cubicle 3A. There are maps in your information booklets and signs along the way to help you navigate through the offices,” she tilted her head towards the door and eyed her list, her lips pursed. “Connell and Clarke, you’re with Winston in 3F. Franklin, King, over at 4D with Katie. Taylor and O’Connor, with Brianna at 4E. Which leaves Stilinski and Hale at 3C, with Kristin.”

Stiles blinked stupidly for a moment before just barely holding in his groan.

He took it back. He didn’t like Erica. Clearly the whole world was conspiring against him.

“So, can we at least be freaking civil about this whole arrangement?” Stiles sighed out loud, not even turning around to see if Derek was following him as he ambled out of the auditorium, trying to find his way to cubicle 3C without looking like a complete idiot. “Because while you’re so high and mighty about this whole internship and the possibility of you getting a job, I’d actually like to learn something from this experience, and I don’t want you ruining all my hard work with your shitty personality.”

There was silence, and Stiles could only take so much before he glanced over his shoulder only to see Derek looking fairly taken aback, eyes wide in surprise. When he caught Stiles looking, however, he quickly schooled his face into a neutral expression and the muscle in his jaw ticked.

“Fine,” he gritted out, swallowing harshly though he couldn’t hide the begrudging look of respect in his eyes. Stiles absolutely did not beam at that. “I can do that.”

“Good,” Stiles said, turning back to look forward again, his heart pounding in his chest because he could not fucking believe that worked. He was just about to turn right into another goddamn hallway when he felt Derek’s hand touch his forearm gently.

“It’s this way,” the older man said quietly, and Stiles, face burning as per usual, allowed him to take the lead, stepping to the side when Derek stopped so he could meet Kristin and not be hidden by the entirety of Derek’s bulk, completely oblivious to the way Derek’s gaze lingered on him for a moment before he turned to introduce himself.

“Derek Hale,” he offered in a gruff voice, sticking his hand out to the blonde with a respectful nod.

Kristin shook it carefully, before turning to Stiles, who was beaming at her.

“Hi, I’m Stiles!” he said cheerfully, and Derek rolled his eyes at the way she pretty much swooned. “I’m so excited to be here.”

“I’m glad,” Kristin smiled fondly at him and indicated for them to step up behind her. “So right now, I’m working on a case involving a mother who was fired a few weeks ago. She claims that her superior had been making unwanted advances towards her and when she reported it to HR, she got fired two days later. Now, it’s not that difficult of a case, but there is no evidence of the complaint, and records show that she was given a week notice before they fired her. We were given a copy of all their previous records and I had them brought down to the archives. If you guys could go down there and maybe go through the files and see something we might be able to use, that would be really great. I’ll be up here making a couple of calls, so I might only be able to check on you in a few hours, is that okay?” she turned to Stiles and Derek bit back a growl.

“That sounds perfect, Kristin, thanks!” Stiles nodded, turning around to head out before spinning back on his heel. “Will it be somewhere specific or…?” he trailed off, and she shook her head.

“Great question, actually. I’ll head down with you guys and show you where everything is, that way you don’t get lost,” she laughed.

Stiles grinned widely, turning to direct his smile at Derek before it wilted at the sour expression on Derek’s face. He opened his mouth as if to say something before apparently thinking better of it and closing it with a snap, nodding once to himself.

They followed her for a while, winding through the maze of offices before she pushed open a doorway that led to a staircase.

“I love the archive because it’s set up very much like a library,” she turned to look at the both of them over her shoulder. “Ms. Martin is very, very talented, one of New York’s finest attorneys and also has an incredible eye for interior design.”

“I can see that,” Stiles nodded in awe as they descended into what was probably the basement. Derek could only agree.

The place was _huge_ , which was expected, but it was also wide and airy, and it didn’t have that underground tomb vibe that a lot of archives seemed to. They had bright lights, not one of which was fluorescent, and the chairs looked sturdy yet comfortable enough so they wouldn’t be painful even when they were being used for long periods of time.

Kristin rounded a few corners before she gestured to a small glass room. “I’ve had the files put in here. I always like working relatively away from everyone else because it gets a bit loud if there are a bunch of people looking through the stacks, so I thought you two would enjoy the peace and quiet.”

“This is perfect, thanks Kristin,” Stiles said quickly, before Derek could even open his mouth, and he squeezed his eyes shut in frustration.

“Thanks,” he told her quietly as she passed, and was slightly gratified to see her smile at him before walking away with a parting wave. “So, how do you want to do this?”

Stiles startled from where he’d been staring at the cart with stacked papers on them. “Oh, um, I’m not sure, but we could just split the stack and study it that way?”

Derek was silent for a few moments, and Stiles let out a little laugh.

“Okay, spit it out, just because I snapped at you earlier doesn’t mean I don’t want to hear your opinion at all,” Stiles smiled kindly at him and Derek ducked his head.

“I just thought that if we get the books that we need for the case and go over a couple of the regulations as we go over the files then we might be able to find something useful quicker because it’ll be better than trying to guess if something they’d written down would be important or not.”

When he looked back up, he was surprised to find Stiles studying him appraisingly, before he nodded.

“That’s a great idea, I’ll go grab the books, and we can get started,” he said quietly, offering Derek a small smile before he slipped past him and back outside.

Derek watched him go in silence, the beginnings of regret for his earlier rudeness already starting to ache in his chest.

Three hours later, they were poring over the records in comfortable silence when Stiles’ stomach growled loudly, startling them both into letting out a short burst of laughter.

“Oh god, I’m so sorry,” Stiles squeezed his eyes shut in embarrassment, and Derek shook his head, his mouth still wide open in a smile.

“Happens to everyone,” he said good-naturedly, before taking his glasses off and stretching his arms out behind his head. “I wonder where Kristin is,” he wondered aloud. “Do you think we’re allowed to go take breaks?”

Stiles wrinkled his nose. “I think so, but I’m not sure. Did you find anything useful?” he asked.

Derek shook his head.

“Not just yet. I can keep looking things up here if you want to pop out and grab some food, then we can swap shifts,” he offered, and Stiles’ head snapped up to look at him with wide eyes.

“Oh god, would you really? Because that would literally be the best,” Stiles pleaded, and Derek shrugged.

“It’s really no problem.”

“Oh bless your soul,” he breathed reverently. “I’ll be back in like 15 minutes max, I swear.”

Derek waved him off, flipping through a bunch of records. “Sure, I’ll see you in a bit.”

“Bye!” Stiles grabbed his messenger bag, slinging it over his shoulder and dashing out the door.

“Bye, Stiles,” Derek muttered absently, his eyes narrowing as he read a scribble on the margin of one of the recorded complaints.

+++

“Why weren’t you downstairs when I got back?” Stiles panted, out of breath when he appeared in the doorway of Kristin’s cubicle, clutching his stomach as he tried to get some air back into his lungs.

“Stiles! I’m so glad you’re back,” Kristin beamed before waving her hands at Derek and the files she had spread open on her desk. “Derek here managed to find something really important for the case," she continued on animatedly, and when Stiles' jaw dropped, she took it as a sign of his excitement, rather than what it really was, one of extreme betrayal. "He did incredible work."

"Yeah, he did," Stiles said a little bitterly, and ignored the weird look Kristin shot him.

"Well, you two did great," she finally said after a brief pause and nods at them. "I'm going to grab some lunch, so as long as you're both back by, say, ten to two? We should be golden."

"That's more than enough time, thanks Kristin," Derek smiled widely at her and she grinned at the two of them before stepping out of her cubicle and walked away.

When Derek turned back around, he raised an eyebrow at Stiles. "What?"

"Nothing," Stiles muttered, pulling a sandwich out of the paper bag he had been gripping in his hands and depositing it on Kristin's table, next to Derek. "I grabbed you a sandwich for lunch. I'll see you later," he added before Derek could say a word.

+++

Of course Derek knew that had been a dick move.

But he couldn't help himself. He had to get the job, otherwise Kate's words would continue ringing in his ears. If he was smart enough to pass the bar, he was smart enough to get the job. Laura would've smacked him upside the head if she knew he was pushing people away because of what a psychotic bitch had told him years ago when he finally decided to break free of a relationship that toxic. Laura never liked Kate, and more often than not, Derek wished she was still around, even if it was only to say "I told you so."

He stared at the sandwich in front of him, contemplating whether or not he should eat it when his growling stomach finally decided for him.

He'd apologize when Stiles got back.

+++

 

He never ended up apologizing. Derek was about to, he really was, but Stiles completely ignored him when he got back, talking only briefly with Kristin and doing whatever it was he was tasked to do in silence. It turned out that they were both immature little shits, however, when Stiles began subtly undermining him in front of Kristin, whether it be making snippy comments about the way he filled out a form or snorting underneath his breath whenever Derek had to speak in front Erica and the rest of the group, as if Derek couldn't hear him from two fucking feet away.

So in turn Derek could only return the favor, "accidentally" forgetting to mention a new task they were given or shuffling Stiles' index cards right before he was about to make a speech. It was infuriating how Stiles always managed to charm his way out of the shit he got into, with his full-bodied laughter and flailing hands. Derek was also pretty sure Stiles and Erica had gone out for drinks a couple of times at the bar downstairs after work.

It all came to head six weeks into the program; they were in the auditorium once again, and Ms. Martin was explaining their last assignment.

"You guys have been doing great work," she had been saying, eyeing the room with a cool, assessing gaze. "I've been getting reports on your progress and just yesterday I finished meeting with all of your superiors who've been observing you these past couple of weeks. I have to say, I'm very impressed. You have managed to not only keep up with the high-pressure, high-intensity standard of work that we like seeing here at Martin & Lahey, but a number of you have even stayed overtime, despite this being an unpaid internship, and done more than what your expectations would have considered necessary. Let it be known that this has not only been greatly appreciated, but also will serve you well when it comes to the final decision. There are a couple of people we have already been eyeing, although the job is still up for anyone who manages to impress us," she paused and looked around the room, a glint in her eye. "Now, is everyone ready for the final assignment?"

There were murmurs of assent, and Lydia waited for a long minute until it died down to complete silence.

"We've acquired a pro bono cases for each and every one of you. Your task is simply to argue your case and close it," she said, eyeing them down when the whispers started up. "Now, it is not a matter of winning or losing. It's a test to see you harness your expertise and what you've learned here and how to tie them all up together. You’ll learn from the experience, be put in a real life situation where you're fighting for your client and hopefully enjoy it along the way. Now, because I don’t want any of you thinking that we’re playing favorites just because you happen to suck at figuring out your own case, you’ll get to draw a number out of this pool and you get that case number. Good luck!”

Stiles’ grin widened because if there was one thing he learnt from Martin & Lahey, it was that being sassy was never unwelcome if it was utilized in the proper situations.

He skipped to the front of the room to take his assignment from Erica, who winked at him, mouthing, " _Good luck_." before he raised a hand to salute her and get to work. He was so ready.

What he hadn't been expecting was Derek to come up to him and ask him for help.

"You want _what_?"

Derek blew out a huge sigh, looking up at Stiles. "I need you to please talk to my client for me."

"And why on earth would I want to do that?" Stiles asked, his eyebrow raised. "Is this another attempt at sabotaging my chances to get the job?"

"No!" Derek protested immediately, his eyes going wide. “Look, you’re brilliant at what you do, and I am sorry for that first day, _and_ ,” he added dangerously, glaring at Stiles when he opened his mouth, no doubt to say something snarky. “For all the shit I’ve pulled since then,” he watched smugly as Stiles’ jaw clicked shut. “But, I’m terrible at talking to people.”

“No shit,” Stiles mumbled with a quick eye roll.

“I always have been,” Derek continued, completely ignoring what Stiles had just said. “And you’re good at it, so I genuinely need your help. If you’d want to help me, of course,” he added, his gaze dropping to the floor. “I’d understand if you didn’t.”

At the end of Derek’s tirade, Stiles blew out a long breath. Sure, Derek was a major dick most of the time, but sometimes when he thought no one was looking, Stiles saw him rip bits of his sandwiches to feed to the birds, and on one memorable occasion, he even saw Derek buy a whole warm meal for that homeless guy living outside the Starbucks on 60th Street. Sure the guy had his douche moments, but he probably was a good guy, underneath all that… Stubble.

Stiles shivered. Yeah, now was probably not the right time to think about Derek’s stubble. Or his stupid face. Or his ridiculously muscled body. “Fine, I’ll help you.”

“You will?” Derek’s head snapped up in surprise.

“Well, yeah,” he rolled his eyes. “Just because you’ve been a dick doesn’t mean I want you to completely fail at this,” he said, biting back a grin when Derek seem to struggle between looking contrite or looking offended. “Plus dude, I’m literally the only friend you have here.”

“You’re not my friend,” Derek sniffed haughtily, but he couldn’t hide how the corner of his mouth twitched when Stiles threw a hand over his heart in mock hurt.

“That hurts me, Derek, it really does,” he said, helpless against the smile spreading across his own face. “I just have to go make a few calls and then I’ll get back to you, okay?”

Derek nodded, and when Stiles was about to disappear behind the partition that separated their desks, he reached out to catch Stiles’ arm. “Thanks,” he said earnestly. “I really appreciate what you’re doing for me.”

Stiles’ face softened.

“Hey, no problem. We all have things we struggle with, right?” Without waiting for a reply, he shot Derek another kind smile and headed to his desk to start working.

+++

“Hey, Derek?” Stiles coughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. “Wow dude, am I interrupting something?” he asked, his eyes widening as he took in what was currently on Derek’s computer.

“What? No!” Derek protested, his cheeks flushing hotly as he shut the window hastily. “That was just a pop-up!”

Stiles smirked. “Yeah, I’m sure, buddy,” he winked, laughing at the way Derek growled at him. “Anyway, I was wondering,” his expression turned bashful. “My, uh, court date is supposed to be Wednesday morning, and I… You think you’d be able to come down and be there?”

“Wow, uh, I,” Derek blinked, taken aback. “You want me there?”

“Well, yeah,” Stiles blushed, trying to brush it off with a shrug. “I mean, I’d feel a lot more comfortable if you were there, but I’d totally get it if you couldn’t make it. No obligations at all!”

“Hey,” Derek placed a warm hand on Stiles’ arm to still him. “I’d love to be there. Do you need a ride?”

Stiles grimaced. “Yeah, I’d rather not panic about finding a cab, cabs just don’t seem to like me,” he shrugged. “Plus, it gives me an excuse to ride in your Camaro, and while Roscoe is the love of my life, I just wouldn’t look as badass.”

“You didn’t even bring your car over,” Derek rolled his eyes. He’d heard stories about Roscoe more than enough times to know nearly everything there was to know about Stiles’ Jeep. Stiles even showed him a picture, and pouted for a whole five minutes when Derek laughed at the fact that Stiles’ car was his iPhone’s background image. “I can pick you up at half past 7?”

“Half past 7?” Stiles’ face paled. “Why the hell would I want to be picked up that early? Jesus, Derek.”

“Well, you’ve mentioned to me before that your apartment was an hour away from the courthouse, and I’m assuming your court date is at half past 9. Plus, you’d want to be there at least 30 to 45 minutes earlier to talk with your client, not to mention the traffic,” Derek said easily, smirking when Stiles groaned and buried his face in his hands.

“You’re the worst,” Stiles complained, his voice muffled into his palms. “Why would you even tell me that? How is anyone supposed to look decent at 7:30 in the morning?” he moaned sadly. “Not that you’ll have a problem,” Stiles sniffed haughtily. “I don’t think it’s possible for you to even look bad.”

Derek burst out laughing. “You’re ridiculous,” he said, shaking his head to try and distract Stiles from how his ears had begun to burn red. “You should’ve seen me when I did the Bar, I wore the same sweats I’d been wearing for four days and I’m pretty sure there was a pizza stain down the front of my shirt, too.”

“I don’t think doing the Bar counts. If anyone can look good doing it, they’re probably not human,” Stiles told him seriously, shaking his head at the memory. “I’m surprised they even let me in, to be honest.”

Derek snorted, and Stiles shot him a small smile, settling himself down in the swivel chair opposite Derek.

“So how’s your client doing? Everything looking good so far?”

“Yeah, I think things are going well,” Derek shrugged. “I think he’s really learning to trust me, which is good, because it means he opens up more about what happened, and he realized that I’m on his side, as opposed to being the enemy,” he chuckled. “And I’ve got a meeting with his landlord tomorrow, so hopefully we can figure this rent thing out.”

“That’s great!” Stiles said honestly. “I was worried he would find all the leather jacket and scruff kind of intimidating,” he teased, though the memory kind of made his skin tingle because honestly, Derek in a leather jacket was what Stiles had been jerking off to for the past three nights.

“I’m not intimidating,” Derek replied, incensed, and Stiles really didn’t want to admit to it, but snorted out a giggle. “I’m _not_! Stiles!”

Stiles reached over to pat Derek’s hand condescendingly. “Sure you’re not,” he nodded seriously, but there was no hiding the curve of his mouth as he smiled when he caught Derek’s eyes. Suddenly shy, he dropped his gaze and caught the time on the clock sitting on Derek’s desk. “Shit, wow, when’d it get so late? You wanna grab some food and get out of here?” he blurted without really thinking, and willed himself not to blush.

Derek studied him for a long moment.

“There’s a great pizza place not too far from here?” Derek offered hesitantly, as if he was expecting Stiles would quickly retract the invitation.

“Aw man, who can say no to pizza?” Stiles grinned easily, pushing himself up off the chair. “Let me just grab my stuff, yeah?”

“Yeah, of course,” Derek nodded, packing his own files up carefully. “I’ll see you in a minute,” he said, a soft smile playing around his mouth. Stiles stared at it for a long moment before clearing his throat and nodding, shooting Derek one last lingering look before turning on his heel and disappearing.

+++

Things between them seemed to melt into something easy after that, and Stiles’ suspicions that Derek was a secret softie underneath all the exaggerated frowning was confirmed the day Derek fed his leftovers to the stray cat that lived underneath the stairs that led up to Stiles’ apartment. He had folded himself down onto the concrete and hand fed her, and Stiles had only melted into a puddle right outside the door. No big deal.

So when he woke up way too early on Wednesday, and he had to focus on his breathing for a few minutes to stop himself from having a panic attack, he didn’t even think twice about rolling over onto his back and reaching for his phone. He fumbled across all the items on the nightstand, and dialed Derek’s number, not expecting the way Derek picked up on the second ring. It was three in the morning, he hadn’t been expecting Derek to pick up at all.

“‘Lo?”

“Derek?” Stiles asked quietly, hating how his voice sounded so young. “Did I wake you?”

“No, it’s fine,” but Derek’s voice was sleep-heavy, and the lie was obvious over the line. Stiles winced. “Everything okay?”

“I can’t sleep,” Stiles told him. “I’m sorry for calling you, I just didn’t have anyone else to call,” he said, maybe a bit too honestly.

“Don’t worry about it, seriously, it’s okay,” Derek reassured him, and Stiles could hear the sound of sheets rustling, as if Derek was getting comfortable. “You freaking out about tomorrow?”

Stiles laughed a bit hysterically. “Well, I wasn’t when I went to bed six hours ago. Then I felt less sure at midnight, and now I think I am freaking out. I’m not sure though.”

“Breathe, Stiles,” Derek told him. “You’ll be fine, you’re smart and you know your case inside out. You’ve got this in the bag, okay? Seriously, there’s nothing you should be worrying about.”

“I’m just worried I won’t be able to express myself as eloquently as I want to, y’know?” Stiles sighed over the line, squeezing his eyes shut and rubbing at them. This was insane, why was Derek even awake? “Why are you even awake?” he blurted out.

“You told me once you couldn’t sleep the night before big events, and you always got anxious. I thought I’d keep my phone’s ringer on, just in case you needed to call me,” Derek said, after a brief pause, and Stiles was so glad no one could see the blush that had taken over his face. Derek cleared his throat. “You would’ve done the same for me,” Derek continued quietly, but despite that, his voice was clear and steady.

“Wow, that’s uh,” Stiles coughed. “Thank you,” he finished, unable to really find the right words to express his gratitude. “You didn’t have to do that, but thank you,” he repeated.

He could hear the smile in Derek’s voice when he said, “Anytime, Stiles. You think you can get back to sleep now? I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Yeah,” Stiles yawned. “I may actually get a good few hours in this time. See you in the morning dude,” he mumbled, already sounding drowsy.

He smiled dopily at the sound of Derek hanging up and was asleep even before he had replaced his phone on his nightstand.

+++

“God I’m coming,” Stiles yelled out the window, hopping around on one foot as he tried to pull his shoe on without losing his balance. Not that it helped. “Shit, man down,” he warbled, bracing himself as he tripped over carpet and ended up sprawled on his bedroom floor.

Scrambling to his feet, Stiles brushed the dust off his clothes and looked down at himself. Thankfully, his suit was still intact, although there was still that faint streak of toothpaste on his collar, which honestly was a better result than he had been expecting. That stain was probably removable too, and Stiles got a bit distracted in rubbing at it with his thumb, licking at the pad of his finger to try and ease the mark off the fabric, that he startled at the sound of Derek’s horn outside his apartment.

Stiles swore, and stumbled over his own feet in his haste to get to the front door, double-checking that he had everything he needed before locking the door shut behind him. “Okay, phone, wallet, keys,” he mumbled to himself, taking the stairs down two at a time and nearly crashing into the front door as he fumbled with the handle. “I’m ready!” he waved manically at Derek, who was leaning against his Camaro with his arms crossed like some sort of badass, undercover sex angel in some jeans and that leather jacket.

“I can see that,” Derek returned dryly, an eyebrow raised before he turned and disappeared back into his car. Stiles ducked his head, embarrassed, and rushed over to the passenger seat, not wanting to be any later than he already was.

“You look professional,” Derek added, once Stiles had pulled his seatbelt on and settled back into the butter-soft leather. “I didn’t know it could happen,” he continued, watching as the pleased grin on Stiles’ face morphed into a scowl.

“Your sense of humor is tragic,” Stiles told him, sniffing haughtily and crossing his arms over his chest, belatedly remembering the toothpaste stain and craning his head down to look at it.

Derek looked over just as Stiles was attempting to buff it out once again with saliva and willpower and nodded towards the glove compartment. “There’s a stain remover in there if you want it.”

He fought back a flush as Stiles swiveled over to look at him, his mouth agape.

“Lifesaver,” he breathed, fumbling for the latch and Derek rolled his eyes with a snort.

“Prepared, at most,” Derek shook his head, ducking his head on a smile when Stiles made a noise of amazement as the stain disappeared. “I started carrying it around since that day you spilt coffee on me.”

Stiles winced. “I am still sorry about that,” he said honestly, brandishing the bottle of stain remover in the air like a flag. “I was genuinely afraid I would get kicked off before the program had even started. But here we are,” Stiles said, his voice awed.

“Here we are,” Derek agreed, turning a corner. “We’ve made it pretty much to the end. You think you learnt anything?”

“Oh, _so much_ ,” Stiles said earnestly. “Even if I don’t get the job, I’m glad I got to be here, you know?”

Derek thought about it for a brief moment.

“Yeah,” he said quietly. “I get it. Me too,” he admitted, and as he turned his gaze away from Stiles’ beaming smile, he realized that it was true. Working not only with Stiles, but with Kristin and Erica, Derek had learnt that even if he didn’t get this job, it wouldn’t mean he’d failed. He could get another one, and it wouldn’t be the end of the world. Kate was a poisonous bitch, and her opinion didn’t really matter. It turned out it only took a loudmouthed intern with an affinity for flannel shirts and beanies to make him realize that.

He was so caught up in his thoughts, however, that he startled when Stiles rested his hand on Derek’s arm.

“Hey, you okay?”

“Huh?” Derek blinked, belatedly realizing they had arrived at the courthouse. “Oh, yeah, of course!” he tried for a smile, and Stiles’ eyebrows furrowed, unconvinced. Derek sighed. “I’ll tell you later, over lunch. My treat,” he offered, and felt his stomach flip over when Stiles beamed at him. “Good luck,” he finished lamely, and was completely taken aback when Stiles launched himself over the console to give him a hug.

“I’ll see you in there, I have to find Emma,” he said quickly, mouth nearly stumbling over the words as he picked his briefcase up and fished around his pocket for his phone. “Thanks for the ride!”

He was gone before Derek could say anything more.

+++

Three hours later, Stiles was nearly vibrating with anxiety, checking his phone for updates every few seconds.

“I can’t eat this,” he announced, pushing his plate across the table to Derek. “I’m too nervous. I’m freaking out so much, I can’t even have fajitas. Mrs. McCall would be ashamed.”

Derek rolled his eyes. “If you don’t eat it, I will,” he said simply. He smirked when Stiles pulled his plate back towards himself with a scowl. “You did well, and whatever the result, Erica will be proud,” he said, wiping his mouth with his napkin and leaning back in his seat, only to duck sharply when one of the waitstaff swerved behind him.

“I can see why you like this place,” Stiles grinned, eyeing the room around them. “It’s cozy, for something in the middle of the city.”

Derek studied the restaurant, a little nostalgic. Laura was the one who had found it, after they had walked around the city for hours and hours, and they had fallen in love with the place almost immediately. Derek was a sucker for good Mexican food, and the place itself was tiny but constantly bustling with customers from all over Manhattan. What was surprising about the place was how Sara, the owner’s daughter, swore that they never really advertised their restaurant, and its popularity had simply grown from word of mouth.

“I like this place because it has great food,” Derek told him firmly, crunching on a nacho. “Which you wouldn’t know about, because you haven’t touched yours.”

Stiles hung his head in shame. “I feel like I may throw up,” he confessed, and Derek sighed, reaching over to take Stiles’ plate. “No!” Stiles shrieked, flushing hard when everyone in the restaurant turned to look at them. “I’ll eat it, god, keep your hands away,” he hissed at Derek, eyes narrowing when he saw Derek holding back a laugh. “I won’t forget this, Hale,” he intoned ominously before taking a large bite of his food, _finally_ , and making a pleased noise. “Oh my god,” he mumbled through his food.

“That’s right,” Derek said smugly, before lifting a small white container. “Salsa?”

Stiles could only nod fervently, and generously pretended not to notice when the tips of Derek’s ears turned pink when their fingers brushed together.

+++

Eight days later, Derek was knocking on the glass that separated Lydia’s office from the rest of the cubicles, his palms already beginning to prickle with sweat before she had even opened the door.

He was worried about Stiles. Ever since he had lost his case, he seemed really distant, as if he was worried he had lost the chance at the job, despite the fact that Lydia had said that it wouldn’t matter in the end.

He wasn’t actually sure what seeing Lydia would do, but he hoped he could come up with a way to bring things back to where they were before the court case.

“Derek,” Lydia sounded surprised to see him, her mouth quirked up into a slightly confused smile. “Is there anything I can help you with?”

“I want to talk to you about Stiles, if that’s okay,” he told her quietly, glancing quickly over his shoulder to check that no one had overheard him. “I understand if you aren’t free, however.”

Lydia looked calculating.

“I can spare a few minutes,” she said finally, pushing the door open wider to allow him in before shutting it behind him when he had walked in. “Have a seat,” she nodded at the chair in front of her desk. “I understand you won your case earlier this week.” Derek nodded. “Well done.”

“Thank you,” Derek said, rubbing the back of his neck. Lydia lifted a finger before he continued.

“I’m not supposed to be telling you this, but I figure that since we’ll be announcing this tomorrow anyway, this won’t make much of a difference. Now, I’m aware Mr. Stilinski lost his case, and while I did say that the cases would not be a factor in making the decision between offering that person a job or otherwise, his work has been equal to only one other person’s, among the whole pool. Yours,” she said, eyeing him curiously. “So, when you won your case and Stiles lost his, we decided to give the job to you. Congratulations, Mr. Hale.”

Derek blinked for a few moments, slightly surprised. That wasn’t what he had been expecting at all when he had walked into Lydia’s office.

“I… thank you,” he said finally, still a little bit in shock. “I, wow,” he shook his head with a little laugh. “I would never have expected this.”

“You did exceptional work, surely you can’t be that surprised,” Lydia shrugged, unconcerned.

“I think you should give the job to Stiles,” Derek blurted out, and Lydia’s eyes swung back to him, her gaze sharp underneath her raised eyebrows.

“Excuse me?”

Derek cleared his throat, and nodded once. “I think Stiles deserves the job. Despite the fact that he lost the case, his argument was sound, and his closing speech was brilliant. _Brilliant_ ,” he repeated for emphasis. “You’d be losing someone with an incredible amount of potential if you don’t hire him.”

“And you?” Derek tried not to rear back when Lydia removed her glasses and leant forward on her desk, now fully interested in what he had to say. “He’s not the only one with a crazy amount of potential, Mr. Hale.”

“It’s not that I don’t appreciate the opportunity, Ms. Martin,” Derek told her honestly. “Because I do. I’ve pushed more than enough people away, I’ve wanted this job so badly,” he admitted, thinking back to how rude and arrogant he had been the first day he met Stiles. “But Stiles…” he trailed off with a shrug. “He deserves to get this job.”

Lydia was doing that thing again, studying him with a calculating gaze.

“Very well,” she said finally, and Derek blew out a long breath.

“Thank you,” Derek said, pushing himself out of the chair and reaching out to shake her hand. She smiled at him before pulling him in and kissing his cheek.

“I hope you know what you’re doing. You know you can still change your mind,” she said softly, and Derek gave her a genuine smile.

“I made the right decision,” he said firmly, but all Lydia did was nod gently, and as Derek walked out of her office, he wondered if he really had made the right choice.

+++

“It’s been an incredibly long summer full of hard work, and I know many of you will be more than glad that it’s finally over,” Lydia smirked at the interns. “And so I want to take this time now to not only congratulate you for finishing the program, but also to thank you for sharing your time and hard work with us here at Martin & Lahey. In a rare stroke of luck, we actually have Isaac here, the Lahey half of this firm, to say a few words and to finally announce the recipient of the job.”

Derek turned his head to look at Stiles, who fidgeted at the the mention of the job offer, and Derek sighed when Stiles refused to meet his gaze. Derek really hoped that his talk with Lydia would fix things, and bring their relationship back to normal.

He turned back to the stage, and there was the sound of applause as Lydia gracefully stepped from the podium, a young man with curly blond hair there to help her down. She kissed his cheek in thanks and smiled fondly as the man clambered onto the podium and wrinkled his nose, adjusting the microphone to accommodate his impressive height.

“Hi everyone, I’m Isaac,” he was soft-spoken, and his smile was gentle. “I know I haven’t really been here this summer, but I just came back from a holiday, actually, and I was surprised to hear Lydia talk so highly of many of you here. I’ve known her for years now,” he paused to direct an affectionate look at her, and it was cute how Lydia’s cheeks flushed, just a tiny bit. “Long enough to know that she isn’t easily impressed, and you must’ve done really great work to make her so proud. However, as she mentioned at the beginning of the program, only one intern will get the job we offered, an intern who has not only been doing really good work for the firm since the first day they got here, but also developed many friendships among the staff, thanks to their personality. I’ve heard many stories about this particular person, and I cannot wait to get to know them personally.”

Isaac paused again, making a cursory glance around the room, and Derek heard Stiles’ small intake of breath when Isaac’s gaze stopped on him.

“Congratulations to Mr. Stiles Stilinski,” Isaac said finally, and Stiles’ jaw dropped open just as there was the start of thunderous applause.

“Oh my god,” Stiles whimpered, turning to Derek with a disbelieving gaze, even as he got up off his chair.

Derek smiled at him, patting him on the arm. “You deserve it,” he said honestly, and the grin he got in return made his heart ache.

He watched with almost a detached sense of interest as Stiles stumbled over his feet towards the podium, prompting a polite round of laughter, and the excitement was evident in the way he shook Lydia and Isaac’s hand maybe a bit too vigorously. His enthusiasm was infectious, and his smile didn’t waver once, even as he expressed his gratitude towards everyone he’d worked with, to Lydia and Isaac, how he couldn’t have done it without Erica, or his dad and best friend Scott’s constant support…

“And of course, the one person who had my back the whole time, Derek,” Stiles beamed at the crowd, and Derek felt the heat rise in his cheeks as everyone in the room turned around to look at him. He waved awkwardly, and Stiles’ laugh reverberated across the room. “You’ve been the best, and I learnt so much from you, so thanks. I, uh, I guess that’s it? Thanks again!” he waved at the room a final time before stepping down to shake hands with the board members.

“So, I guess that’s it,” Isaac told them, and the room started to bustle with movement. “If anyone wants to receive a letter of recommendation for your CVs, just head up to your group leaders and they will be happy to provide you with one,” he called out above the noise of chairs and papers being gathered.

Derek headed up to the front, intent on congratulating Stiles, when he was stopped by a gentle hand on his shoulder.

“Derek, hi,” Isaac said with a smile. “Do you mind sparing me a few minutes of your time? Lydia will let Stiles know where you are, so you can congratulate him afterwards,” he continued, noticing the way Derek turned his head to look for Stiles. When Derek nodded, Isaac nodded once. “Thanks.”

Derek trudged behind Isaac slowly, the feeling of dread slowly lodging itself firmly in his stomach. Isaac didn’t speak any more as he led the way through the cubicles, pushing the door to his office open and gesturing for Derek to step inside.

“Derek, please, have a seat,” he gestured towards the plush armchair in front of his desk. His office was so different to Lydia’s, much more lived-in and comfortable. Where Lydia’s office was clearly a space for her to work, a throne, Isaac’s looked more like a den in his home, photographs of himself with groups of friends on funky-looking frames sitting on top of the table and lines of stick figure drawings meticulously taped to his windows, and Derek remembered hearing that in addition to being a partner at Martin & Lahey, Isaac had also opened up his own charity for children running away from any sort of abuse or violence. He’d also overheard one of the other interns, Greenburg or something, telling Stiles it was something he’d done in respect to his own childhood, though there was never really any proof to the rumor. If what he’d heard was true, then Isaac was not only a genius but a genuinely good person as well.

He startled when Isaac said his name again and looked up only to find Isaac smiling at him kindly.

“Sorry,” Derek apologized, his ears feeling hot.

“That’s okay, no worries,” Isaac told him, waving his apology away easily. “Lydia told me what you did for Stiles,” he said, his smile widening when Derek ducked his head in embarrassment. “That was a really nice thing to do, Derek.”

Derek cleared his throat. “I just felt like he did so much work, and I don’t know what happened at court, but he had it in the bag. He deserved it so much more than I did.”

“And that’s exactly why we’re also offering you a job,” Isaac said, without missing a beat. He shrugged at Derek’s dumbstruck expression. “You excelled at the program, doing incredible work, and not to mention, the fact that you were willing to give away your spot at Martin & Lahey for someone you believed deserved the spot more tells me that you’re the kind of guy we want working for us,” he raised a hand when Derek opened his mouth to speak. “It was Lydia’s idea.” Isaac’s voice was smug as Derek’s jaw clicked shut. “Welcome to Martin & Lahey, Mr. Hale,” he stuck his hand out for Derek to shake, and Derek took it, still in shock.

“We’ll get your contract written up over the weekend, just be here at half past 8 on Monday, okay?”

Derek could only nod dumbly.

“Great,” Isaac shot another one of those kind smiles at him. “I believe Stiles is waiting for you outside.”

That seemed to snap Derek out of his stupor. “Does,” Derek cleared his throat. “Does he know?”

Isaac shook his head. “It’s your decision whether or not you’d like to let him know. I know Lydia won’t have said anything, though I can’t be sure about the rest of them,” Isaac shook his head, his smile turning fond. “We’ve got a good crew here, and I’m glad you and Stiles will be joining us.”

“Thank you,” Derek said fervently, when he had finally found his voice. “Seriously, this is… This is incredible, and I never would’ve expected it. So thank you.”

Isaac smiled warmly at him, offering Derek his hand to shake once more. “You’re welcome Derek. Congratulations.”

Derek shook his hand and walked out as if in a daze, only to run into Stiles, who was waiting just around the corner, a nervous look on his face as he leant against the wall, tapping on his phone.

“Oh, hey, you’re back!” Stiles breathed out, his arms coming up for a hug before he stopped halfway and let them dangle uselessly at his sides. “How’d the meeting go?” he nodded at the direction where Derek had come from. “Lydia told me that Isaac had something really important to tell you but wouldn’t tell me what it was,” he shrugged. “Everything okay?”

Derek nodded. “They uh,” he cleared his throat. “They offered me a job,” he said quietly, unsure of how Stiles would take the news. It could go both ways, but Derek had his fingers crossed that Stiles would be happy for him. He thought he would, because Stiles wasn’t the type to begrudge other people’s successes. If anything, Stiles might even express his excitement more obviously than Derek did.

True to form, Stiles did not disappoint.

“Oh my _god_!” he shrieked, then slapped a hand over his mouth when he realized that there were still people working around them, and they were now peering over the top of their cubicles to see what the commotion was. “Shit,” he whispered, his eyes wide. “Dude that’s amazing! Congratulations! _Wow_ ,” he shook his head in amazement, walking next to Derek as they headed out of the building. “That’s so great,” he said, grinning up at Derek before he ducked his head, suddenly shy. “I, uh, I’m glad you’ll be around too, when I start working.”

“Me too,” Derek admitted quietly. “It’ll be nice having you there,” he coughed, hating the way his voice had risen in pitch.

“So, this is me,” Stiles joked, waving at the train station behind him, but there was a question in his eyes and the way he looked at Derek expectantly. “I’ll see you Monday?”

The moment had gotten painfully awkward, and Derek cursed inwardly. He needed to take the leap, and just go for it. Believe in himself for once.

“I can give you a ride home,” he finally offered weakly, wishing, _hoping_ it would be enough.

The smile Stiles gave him spread warmth across his whole body, and he couldn’t help but grin back when Stiles’ nudged Derek’s shoulder with his own.

“From what I remember, and I have a nearly perfect memory,” Stiles told him matter-of-factly. “I think you owe me coffee, seeing as you’ve gotten your job.”

Derek scowled and when Stiles laughed, it was a beautiful sound.

+++

**Epilogue - one year and three months later** ****

 

“We shouldn’t be doing this,” Stiles murmured into Derek’s mouth, nipping his bottom lip and grinning when he heard Derek’s breath hitch. “Like, _really_ shouldn’t be doing this.”

Derek pulled away, his eyebrow raised. “The door’s right there,” he told Stiles, though the way his fingers dug into the meat of Stiles’ hips gave away the fact that he probably wouldn’t let him leave.

When he got no response, Derek smirked and dipped his head to worry at the skin of Stiles’ neck with his teeth. The first thing Stiles learnt about Derek after the fact that he was probably a descendant of a Roman god was that he had a little bit of a marking kink. And by little, Stiles meant that he now had a fancy range of scarves to use even though it was barely autumn.

“Anyone could come in,” Stiles argued half-heartedly, even as he was tilting his head back to give Derek more room to work with. He tried not to feel offended when Derek snorted.

“You and I both know everyone’s gone out for lunch. Besides, you said last night that you wanted to do this!”

Stiles flushed, and Derek smirked, thumbing over the heated flesh of Stiles’ cheekbone. “I am not responsible for the words that came out of my mouth last night.”

“You’re right,” Derek started, his eyes twinkling. “I am.”

“Oh that was awful,” Stiles complained, pushing Derek away with a huff, and ignoring the way his heart flipped in his chest when Derek started laughing. “Why do I like you?”

Derek shrugged, reaching out to wrap Stiles’ tie around his fist and reel him back in. “I don’t know, probably the same reason I like you,” he said quietly, and Stiles rolled his eyes.

“You’re a mega sap, I can’t even with you right now.”

“Is that even a real sentence?” Derek asked, wrinkling his nose. “Because it didn’t sound like one at all.”

“It’s a Tumblr thing, jeez, you’re an actual caveman,” Stiles huffed, hooking his fingers in Derek’s belt loops and tugging him to close the last inch between their bodies. “Are we doing this or what?”

“Romantic,” Derek snarked, his hands dropping to the hem of Stiles’ fitted slacks easily and his fingers tucking in past the band to brush against warm skin. He ducked his head down to kiss Stiles, fumbling to unclasp the button, leaving it unbuttoned but not going any further. “I wonder if anyone’ll come looking for us,” he said against Stiles’ mouth, luxuriating in the wet drag of Stiles’ lips against his, the feel of soft skin against his stubble.

“I’m placing bets on Erica,” Stiles replied, his eyes half-lidded and his mouth already beginning to look kiss-swollen when Derek pulled away. “It’s always fucking Erica.”

There weren’t that many words after that. Derek seemed content to just kiss Stiles for a while, alternating between trailing stinging bites along Stiles’ jaw or sucking on Stiles’ tongue. Eventually, Stiles, who never claimed to be a particularly patient person, pushed Derek’s hand over to his crotch, where his cock was already hard and straining against the cloth. Derek chuckled lowly, the sound sending shivers down Stiles’ spine, squeezing the line of his Stiles’ dick through his pants, and Stiles let out a gasp, rolling his hips against the friction. “Jesus,” he breathed out, dropping his head against Derek’s shoulder. “Can you hurry it up a little, I⎯”

The sudden sound of Stiles’ ringtone had them springing apart and Stiles sighed, looking down at his erection with a wistful expression. “Give me a minute, okay?”

“Are you talking to me or your dick?” Derek asked dryly, his mouth twitching when Stiles shoved him, grabbing his phone out of his pocket.

“Hello?” Stiles answered, his eyes fluttering shut when Derek fingers brushed across his stomach, tangling along his happy trail. “Wait, _what_?” he asked, paling.

“What is it?” Derek asked, his eyes widening at the look of horror on Stiles’ face.

Stiles completely ignored him.

“Are you serious?”

“Stiles, what is it?”

“Oh my god, why didn’t you tell me, how embarrassing,” Stiles muttered, waving Derek away. “Okay, we’re coming out now, jesus, there better not be a crowd of you guys.” He hung up and rubbed a hand across his face. “Remember when you said everyone was going to be out to lunch?” Derek could only nod silently. Stiles shook his head, before ducking down to kiss him quickly. “They’re not out to lunch.”

Derek’s cheeks flushed hot at the implication. He knew there were vents in the supply closest, and often, noises could be heard from the break room. It was one of the first things Danny had told him, his eyebrows raised, and with a significant look at him. Derek had blushed and dismissed his comments, because why would anyone want to hook up in the supply closet?

And then there was Stiles.

“Nearly everyone’s in the break room,” he blurted out. The quicker they got over it, the less painful it would be, like ripping out a bandaid. “They had a cake,” he explained, and Derek groaned, dropping his head in his hands. “For the anniversary,” Stiles finished with a wry smile. “Surprise?” he said weakly, and Derek snorted, sliding his hands into the soft hairs at the nape of Stiles’ neck and pulling him in for one last kiss.

They walked out of the supply closet, and into the break room amidst the catcalls and whistling of their friends, Stiles bowing graciously to them, even though it was obvious just how much his cheeks were burning. Derek shook his head, because how the hell had this become his life? He had a well-paying job, more friends than he knew what to do with, and he had Stiles.

He had Stiles, and that was all that really mattered.

**Author's Note:**

> [tumblr](http://officerstilinskihale.tumblr.com/).


End file.
